Cage of Feathers
by Nayokyo
Summary: Why does Red-X stay in Jump City, the city of heroes. Implied RobRae


Feathers black.

He could go where ever he wanted to. He was free and with that freedom he could slip among the shadows and shine in the day. Wherever his alley cat feet wished to go him he went. He lived for himself and did as he desired. He was more free than any bird.

Feathers blue.

For the only two birds in the city were in a cage. They looked out through silver wires that hooked into the sky, watching as the town's lights flickered and changed, as the clouds slid by. Under scrutiny of ever eye, the need to be the perfect bird. A raven and a robin, trapped.

Feathers grey.

He was free, yet he always came back to their cage. He did not know why, perhaps the morbid interest in ones less fortunate than you. Maybe because he enjoyed teasing the poor animals stuck in a cage decorated as a nest. Or, could it be that anywhere else was dull in comparison to the cage and bird that shone like gold beneath the midnight stars. All he knew was that he could dash to wherever he wanted, skirt the line of good and bad. Even the birds themselves did not know, they only watched from behind the thin glass and silver bars and soared.

Feathers yellow.

They would sing, a repetitive melody, as if they were broken birds that knew no other melody. Yet, it sounded beautiful all the same. It made the people below stare into their cage and sigh in comfort, basking in the sweet safe song. It struck fear into the worms that inched in the dirt and made them writhe and suffer. It was simplistic and repetitive to the birds themselves, and they thought nothing of it. They were birds, they would sing, they knew it was broken, yet they could do nothing about it but let it sink into monotonous recluse. It was all they could do, trapped.

Feathers white.

He looked out from behind his mask, pale bone and dead next to their lively fluttering. He was free he could do anything he wanted, but sometimes he felt more trapped than the birds in their cage. They were white, he was grey. He could go deeper into black or rise into light.

Feathers orange.

The birds would fly. Fly with their little friends that were equally trapped in their little cage. They would glide across the city, somehow pressing desperately against their bars, yet never once even skim their feathers through the free air. High into the air they flew always darting here and there, testing the limits of their prison. All the while under the orange glare of the sun.

Feathers green.

He would leave, go far away, where the sky was black, not yellow, where the ground was green not grey. And although he could go wherever, he always came back. Then, he would stare in curious amusement at the birds, all the while questioning why he was there.

Feathers red.

He was free and outside of their cage. He was not trapped. So why was his chest marked with a bloody X? Why did they look happy in their cage? And why wasn't he? His body was free, he could go anywhere. His mind was free, he had no emotional baggage, no friends that could drag him down, no steep morals that would box him in. Why did he stay under the torrent of feathers that fell every day?

Beneath the rain of feathers that colored his world.

Why did he stay in the city of the birds and watch them dance sleek black and fluorescent wings sweeping through the air? Watch them smile at each other with the thin upturn of their mouths. Watch them nuzzle their heads together and black feathers hid smiling eyes. Why did he stay when the birds, in their own cage, were hoping to place him in a cage of his own?

In a cage where violet feathers never fall.

Maybe it was because the beauty of the bird made him happy enough to risk it. Perhaps it was because he liked the risk of being caught by the dark eyed predator. Maybe, he wanted to hurt the bright colored bird and gouge its cocky eyes. Or maybe, he wanted to have the dark raven-esque bird.

Be caught in a storm of feathers.

No, it was because he was free. He wanted to stay despite his aching feet and heart that urged him into the night. His eyes wanted to see the bird dance, her swift gliding movements, her intuitive glares. He wanted to. And he was free, and ensnared by the raven in her silver gilded cage.

A/n: I own no characters titans or other wise in this story.


End file.
